Whether you are a CEO or Marketing VP, it is vital to go back to basics and remember who we are here for. 

Ask yourself one question … Do you REALLY know your customers?  Really?!?!

Whether you are a CEO or Marketing VP, it is vital to go back to basics and remember who we are here for. 

Ask yourself one question … Do you REALLY know your customers?  Really?!?!

 

 

 

In a perfect world, you’ll have the budget and time to conduct a full-blown customer survey. But, we live in the REAL world, where you need answers by last Tuesday and your budget is whatever coins you can find in the your office chair.

As management locked in our corner, window-filled office overlooking the skyline of our fine cities, we are usually not the best equipped to really understand our customers. But your staff are! Your frontline team knows your customer’s family and how little Suzy did in her last swim meet and sometimes that Mr and Mrs Right are having troubles at home.

So, if you REALLY want to understand your customers, talk to your staff. 

We’re currently doing a branding project for a smaller credit union with no budget for member research. So, in an effort to learn all we can, we improvised and sent a questionnaire to the entire CU team with questions about the members they see and help every day. Questions that can help you, like:

 

 

 

 

 

  • How old are they?
  • What is their annual income?
  • Is your average customer a man or woman?
  • What is their race?
  • How do they dress?
  • What do they look like?
  • Are they blue collar or white collar?
  • What do they do when they are not banking?
  • What are their main values?
  • What do they drive?
  • What do they talk to your staff about?
  • What drives them personally and professionally?
  • What kind of music do they listen to?
  • What are their hobbies?
  • How do they bank with you (in-person, electronically, ATMs, phone)?
  • What products do they have with you?
  • Why did they choose you?
  • When they go somewhere else for financial products, why?
  • How far do they live or work from your branch?
  • What do they do for a living?
  • Do they tell their friends and family about you?
  • If your average customer was a famous person or character, who would they be?
  • Is there a difference between your long-time and newer customers? If so, ask these same questions about each set.

 

 

The responses from this survey will allow you to build a customer profile and help you better understand the person for whom you are trying to build stronger relationships with.  Your profile may look something like this:
 

 

Our newer member is middle-aged and middle-classed. He is in his mid 30’s and is just starting to really figure life out.  

He is active, enjoying travel, boating and being with his young family. He is at a point in his life where he struggles with the balance of work and family. He’s putting in a lot of hours at work while trying not to miss his son’s little league games.

 

 
He is changing jobs every 2-3 years because sometimes it is easier to move out than to move up in a company. He prides himself on doing his job well and is willing to move on to find a company that will compensate him for what he feels he’s worth. He also expects others to be as dependable and trustworthy as he is.
 
He lives for the weekends when he gets to spend more time having fun and hanging out with the family. On the weekend’s, he trades his work uniform (with his name on his shirt) for jeans and a t-shirt.
 
He takes pride in his used BMW. He could have bought a slightly newer, more reliable car, but it wouldn’t have had the same logo.
 
He came to the credit union a few years ago when he financed his used car (either learning about us through the dealer or a friend who told him about our rates). He works close to our branch, and will come in on his lunch break, but he prefers to make payments through home banking. He would love for us to have more electronic services to make his life easier and this is why he essentially only has a car loan with us while he maintains a minimum share account. His day-to-day accounts are with an institution with more convenient locations.
 
Now, doesn’t this help you better segment your marketing, focus your sales efforts, hone your product focus and create the proper voice for your advertising? Imagine what this perspective can do for your strategic planning sessions?
 
It’s not a perfect system. The staff survey alone will never replace proper customer research. Facts from the “horse’s mouth,” so to speak, are always more accurate. And your staff can never tell you what institutions own share of mind or even where the rest of the share of wallet is. Your staff can not accurately tell you other people’s perceptions of your institution or the competition. And, your team may have a good guess, but will never truly know all of the purchase criteria that drives the decision to choose or not choose you.  That insight can only come through direct customer and prospect interaction.
 
But, on a shoestring and in a bind, this method will work wonders for you.
 
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